Sins of the Past
by LunaPendragon18
Summary: They say the truth will set you free, but some truths are better left hidden. Marinette's life has been all but ordinary since becoming Ladybug but she must look for help finally discover who lies behind Hawkmoth's mask. But when such a search forces her to delve into a past Adrien would rather not remember their relationship is put to the ultimate test.
1. Memories

"Mum!" yelled Adrien as he struggled against his seatbelt but with each movement the car swayed uncertainly, inching ever closer over the edge.

"Adrien don't move." The older woman panted, blood dripped down the side of his mother's face. Her beautiful face was covered in scratches from when the windscreen had shattered. A particularly large piece of glass had embedded itself in her shoulder, staining her white blouse a horrid pink. She couldn't move it and it must have really hurt because her breathing was coming out short and ragged. However, her eyes never left his. Adrien too could feel his face sting from where the glass had scratched it but, miraculously, he felt fine apart from that.

"Mum." He began but she silenced him with her eyes, her mind racing. Their closest aid was the drunk driver who had hit them and who was now vomiting over the side of his window, oblivious to the dire situation he had put them in.

"Adrien don't move unless I tell you to." She ordered softly as she slowly extended her uninjured arm. The car swayed again and Marie caught a brief glimpse of the dark water that lied beneath them. She struggled against the glass that pinned her to her seat, feeling it tear at her flesh as she extended her other arm. With a shallow breath and biting her lip so not to shriek in pain, she released her son's seatbelt. The teenager turned as if to do the same but Marie shook her head, it wouldn't do her any good. She glanced down at the brooch on her chest even it couldn't help her out of this situation. No, she had to get Adrien out of this.

"H-honey, can you reach the door handle?" she stammered, as she continued to fight against the pain, she had stars in her vision and a ringing in her ears.

"Yes." Adrien breathed as, with barely a movement, he grasped the handle.

"Good. Adrien I need you to open it and jump out as quickly as you can."

"No mum! The car will fall!" he instantly protested.

"I can't move Adrien, it has to be you." she answered him honestly, though even if she hadn't been injured she would still have insisted that he'd get out first. "I need you to call for help. Use that man's phone if you can."

"But…"

She shook his head at him. "You've got to be strong, for me Adrien. You have to do this. I can't be strong so be strong for me."

That liar, Adrien would always remember himself thinking those words, even then she was being strong, stronger than he'd ever be. So with a slight nod, he opened the car door slowly. The car rocked forward again.

"Now!" yelled his mother and as if moving under a reflex he slid out of the car, his feet dangling over the damaged edge of the bridge.

"I'm out!" he remembered yelling, a fleeting moment of relief flooded over him, he'd always feel guilty for that. That feeling that he was safe but his mum wasn't. She gave him a tired smile, and made as if to say something else but the car gave one last screech- it had finally given up.

It slid forward into the dark abyss below.

"Mum!" Adrien shrieked staggering to his feet and looking over the edge, almost falling forward. The car had landed head first into the deep dark waters below and was sinking fast. He couldn't see his mother and soon even the rear lights were submerged. With tears running down his face he ran towards the only other stationary car on the road, that of the drunkard who was still vomiting and staggering beside it.

That was usually when he'd wake up, panting and dripping sweat. In the first few weeks after they had pulled the wreck out of the water, he'd dream of it even when he was awake. It would feel like he was more awake in the dream then when he was actually awake. It was always the same, occasionally he'd imagine a flash of light just as the car hit the water but the doctors had assured him it was a trick of his mind while while it tried to deal with what happened. But he knew the facts- those would never change.

Adrien had called for help and they had come.

They had pulled out the car but they had never found his mother. Her window had been broken. They assumed the currents must have washed her away.

They never found her.

This had happened in august, two days after his birthday. Adrien's father sent him to the help he needed but he himself sunk into his work. The September of after he applied to Collège Françoise Dupont and days into his first term he found Plagg and took up the mantle of Chat Noir. That's what saved him, that finally brought him out of his darkness. He had something to live for. His mother's last words to him had been to be strong. He couldn't be her strength, but he could be that of others.

However, he still had dreams about that night, when his mind felt vacant but they happened less often now, at least. Though, it seemed to happen at the worst of times too.

"Chat Noir!" yelled Ladybug quickly bringing him back to the current situation. He and Ladybug were dangling over the Sien river, his staff the only thing stopping them from falling into the churning waters below. Above them smirking, was their foe, one of Hawk Moth's victims, Ferryman.

"Sorry." Joked Chat as with one hand he pulled both himself and Ladybug onto his staff. "Was just remembering how I fell for you, milady."

But his mouth felt dry even as he said the joke. This whole scene triggered all sorts of bad memories.

Ladybug rolled her eyes, oblivious, and she steadied herself on the slightly wobbling staff. She looked up at where Ferryman stood upon the Pont des Arts.

"Not the time, Chat." She scolded but her voice faltered when she saw his face. He looked distracted as he looked down at the blue water below; Ladybug had never seen his emerald eyes look so sad. Over the months since they had teamed up she had seen many sides of Chat Noir and they rarely ever deviated much from happy. But today, at that particular moment, it seemed he had forgotten what happiness was.

Chat was remembering something all right, but it was not her. As she looked on at him she felt the urge to give him a hug, the same way you'd reassure a young child that everything would be fine soon. The problem was, Ladybug didn't even know what the problem was.

"So you think we should send him packing?" asked Chat, his excitement returning to his voice as if, whatever had been bothering him had been forgotten. But even as Ladybug nodded her head she couldn't help wonder at what had gotten Chat so down.

"The akuma is in his neck-scarff." Said Ladybug as the two heroes jumped off the staff and onto the bridge. Police blocked either end but Ferryman didn't seem to care. With an almost ninja like skill he began to throw exploding coins their way but the two heroes dodged with very little effort. From her pocket Ladybug pulled out the ball of yarn her Lucky Charm had conjured up.

"What am I meant to do with this?" she sighed.

"Ah Ladybug? you don't have much time left." He said pointing at the two remaining dots on her earrings. And neither did he, he thought as he saw the time on a nearby street clock. It was 10 to seven; he was going to be late for the party!

Ladybug looked around her desperately but on the deserted bridge there wasn't much to work with.

"Sometimes, milady, the old fashioned ways are best." Noted Chat Noir as he began to run towards ferryman. "Cataclysm!"

Ferryman, sneering sent a barrage of exploding coins at Chat but skilfully hd dodged them all. With a small smile he grabbed at the scarf around the akuma victim's neck and it instantly disintegrated under his grip. The akuma gracefully emerged from it. Slightly stunned at the efficiency of Chat's actions Ladybug caught the akuma and sent her Lucky Charm flying into the air, fixing all the damage that had befallen Paris.

"Awesome!" congratulated Chat preparing to fist bump Ladybug but the latter just kept him hanging. He gave her a quizzical look.

"What just happened there?" she asked, astonished.

"I got the bad guy?" he answered confused, tilting his head to one side.

"Yes but no stupid puns, or snarky comments, not even a single cat joke!"

"I'm a bit tight on time." He admitted, his eyes flickering on the street clock 7 minutes to go.

Reluctantly, Ladybug bumped fists with Chat Noir who with a salute and a smile went jumping off across the bridge, Ladybug did a similar thing but at a slower pace the two were heading in a similar direction that day.

Ladybug landed with a sigh on the roof of her room just as her transformation wore off. She sighed exhausted but she turned to face the floating kwami. "What do you think was wrong with Chat Noir?" she asked sounding slightly worried.

"I don't know." Admitted the little kwami, landing on Marinette's shoulder, "but deal with that tomorrow, today's your birthday, you should enjoy it!"

"Or what's left of it." She yawned stretching. Thanks to Hawkmoth she had spent most of it dealing with Ferryman.

"Marinette!" her mother called from downstairs, "dinner's ready!"

"At least go enjoy some time with your parents then." Tikki wisely said flying into her small bag as Marinette smiled down at her.

"You're right." she said looking up at the crimson sky above but her worries for Chat Noir, for some reason refused to vanish.

 **And that's the first chapter! This is the second time i've written about this series but totally love it :3 with season 2 slowly being released i thought why not give another story another shot XD i really hope you guys enjoyed it, reviews are always welcome and i'll try update asap :D- Luna Pendragon**


	2. Gifts

"Adrien!" scolded Alya as he finally ran through the bakery front door panting. "You are _this_ close to being late for Marinette's surprise party!"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry I got held up at work." Adrien half lied, trying to catch his breath.

The other girl caressed her brow and took a deep breath. "It's fine. It's fine. You're here on time. Ms Dupen-Chung?" continued Alya turning to a raven-haired woman with a soft, smiling face.

"I can call her down?"

"Yes." Said Alya smiling as she then turned to her classmates that were gathered around her. "The rest of us have to hide now and if I hear a squeak from any of you…"

The group quickly nodded their heads in understanding, they weren't allowed to spoil Marinette's birthday. Silently, giggling and smiling, the small group dispersed themselves around the living-room trying to find the best hiding spots. Adrien crouched behind a recliner just as Marinette's mum called her down for dinner. Nino winked at him from behind the library and they all held their breath. Adrien was finding it particularly difficult to stand still, this was his first surprise party after all.

"Comin' mum!" they heard Marinette answer and this was soon followed by footsteps coming down the stairs. Marinette stopped at the entrance to the living room, she had to pass through there to get to the kitchen but she wondered why the lights were all off.

With a tired yawn and sleepy hand she found the wall switch and turned the light on.

"Surprise!" The group of about 15 people yelled as they jumped out from their hiding spots.

Marinette gave a small surprised shriek as she staggered back, almost yelling out for Tikki to turn her into Ladybug. But so preoccupied was she with not revealing her secret identity to all her friends she staggered and almost fell over her own feet.

Emphasis on almost. With feline reflexes Adrien ran towards her and grabbed her flailing hand, pulling her towards him.

"Nice save bro." laughed Nino, winking at the still stunned Marinette as Adrien let go of her hand. He shrugged smiling at his friend as the thre rest of the group made their way to greet Marinette.

"Ad-adrie-adrien-adrien" stammered Marinette her eyes still following the taller boy.

"Hey, don't forget me." teased Alya pushing her camera phone in her best friend's face, finally breaking the trance.

"Oh my god, Alya! You did this, didn't you?" squealed Marinette hugging her best friend.

"Guilty as charged." Laughed Alya. "And I've got it all on video too." She finished winking at Marinette when they finally broke their embrace. "You might want to see Adrien's save later on.'

Marinette blushed slightly but with so many people wishing her well, it was hard to stay focused on one thing only. Soon after that, Nino started the music and Marinette's parents began to bring out some of the freshest and tastiest baked goods the teenagers had ever seen and for once Adrien was free to eat as much as he wanted.

Nothing could dampen the mood as the small group laughed and ate.

"Where are Chloe and Leila?" Marinette had asked, about an hour into the party and through a bite of cookie. She had noticed the lack of sarcastic comments.

"They are away for vacation." Answered Sabrina as she chose a turquoise macaron from the selection before her.

"And thank the heavens for that." Cheered Alya raising a cup of juice.

At about 10:30 the group began to give Marinette her presents which she accepted with a broad smile and a promise that she'd open them later. Adrien smacked his head with the palm of his head causing Nino, who was sitting besides him, to lough.

"You forgot to bring your gift, didn't you ?"

"And I actually got her something she'd like." He answered, sadly.

"Don't worry bro." continued Nino knowingly, "for Marinette the fact that _you_ came is more than enough for her."

But Adrien didn't catch the secret meaning behind his friend's words, he was more preoccupied at how he was going to get Marinette's gift to her. However, Adrien wasn't given much time to think, not long after Marinette had been given all her presents, her father come out with a gorgeous cake in the shape of a small bell resting on a spotted yoyo. Marinette openly laughed and blew out her 16 candles and began to cut through the golden frosting.

Adrien smiled down at the slice that was placed before him, they had just given him the perfect idea on how to give his present. For Marinette, the cake brought up memories of today's battle. She wondered there, for a brief moment, where Chat Noir was at that moment. She didn't often wonder where her partner was when he wasn't saving the world, and at that moment she felt slightly guilty for that. She remembered that sad look on Chat's face. She wondered, was he surrounded by friends and family, smiling and happy like she was? or was he alone that night?

By the end of the party everyone was yawning and exhausted but content and full having enjoyed the party very very much. Slowly, the guests began to leave, Adrien was one of the first to go. His bodyguard arrived and picked him up but he still waved and smiled at Marinette before he left, sending the butterflies in her stomach into a flurry. It was almost midnight when Alya, too, left and kissing her parents goodnight and thanking them, Marinette made her way to her room, looking forward to a good night's sleep.

But it seemed it wasn't meant to be.

She had just fallen into bad, having pulled of her jacket and kicked off her shoes when something knocked on her window.

She was tempted to ignore it but the knock repeated itself.

" "Who could that be at this hour." Yawned Tikki, already falling asleep under Marinette's pillow.

"Chat Noir." She sighed shaking her head, recognising those emerald eyes anywhere. She opened her window to let the hero in. "what does he want now?"

"Evening, Marinette" chirped Chat Noir, swinging into her room.

"Do you know what time it is?" she yawned, rubbing the back of her head but slightly glad she had listened to Alya's advice and packed up all her pictures of Adrien- it made unexpected social visits much less awkward. Then it dawned on her, why would Chat Noir be talking to her as Marinette? He didn't know she was Ladybug, so what reason could there be? "Is everything ok? It seems everytime we meet I get attacked by some supervillain."

Chat laughed lightly, it seemed that over the hours that had passed Chat was back to his normal annoying self.

"No, no -no villain this time." He said, smiling down at her and retracting his stuff. "I'm actually doing this for a friend." And from his pocket he pulled out a small, neatly wrapped box and handed it to her with a flourish.

She looked down at it ,confused and then up at Chat Noir, even more confused.

"It's your birthday, right?" continued Chat, his eyes falling on the small pile of gifts that lay haphazardly on her bedside table. Most were still unwrapped, Marinette was so tired she had concluded she'd rather unwrap them the next day.

"Happy birthday Marinette" said Chat, smiling as, still confused Marinette began to unwrap it. A small gasp escaped her lips. Within the little blue box was a beautiful small peacock feather of the most radiant blues Marinette had ever seen.

"Who gave you this?" whispered Marinette, shocked. This couldn't be from Chat, he didn't know Marinette. Chat was still standing in front of her, watching with his large green eyes.

He winked at her. "just a friend."

"but who? I've got to tell them thank you!" she quickly blurted out her mind running all over- who would give her something so beautiful?

"If I told you that you might figure out who I am." Laughed Chat Noir as a bewildered look spread across Marinette's face but more gently he continued. "Trust me, they know how thankful you are for it."

Carefully, Marinette walked to her bed and placed the box in one of her many drawers so she wouldn't lose it.

"Well I'm off then." Said Chat stretching and already walking towards the still open window.

"Wait!" blurted out Marinette, her mind racing back to what had happened this afternoon, as Marinette she might be able to get answers from Chat that Ladybug couldn't. "Is everything ok, Chat Noir?"

He gave her a confused look as he set on the edge of her window frame. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I?" he laughed, smiling at her.

"Well, er, I saw a video of you fight with Ferryman." She lied, walking back towards him. "There was a moment you and Ladybug were dangling by your staff thingy and well, you didn't look all there."

And suddenly, as if Marinette had hid a trigger the look momentarily spread across his masked face once again. Although he still smiled down at her, his eyes looked saddened and rather distant.

"You noticed that from a video?" he asked, tiredly.

"I can usually tell when something is wrong." She admitted, taking a seat on the windowsill next him. Marinette couldn't help note that this was probably the only time in the time that she had known Chat that the two of them had sat so close to each other without him making any sort of comment. Now she was sure something was wrong.

They sat in silence for a moment until char spoke. "I was just remembering someone. The first person I couldn't save."

Marinette looked at him momentarily confused, her mind running through all the akuma victims they had encountered, they had saved them all if she recalled correctly. Then with wide eyes it dawned on her, could this have happened before he became Chat Noir? "Do you want to talk about it?"

But Chat Noir shook his head. "I'd rather play a few rounds of Takken if you wouldn't mind." He admitted, gesturing his head at Marinette's game console, which still lay haphazardly after the last time she and Adrien had played it.

"Sure thing." She said jumping to her feet. He didn't want to talk, that was ok with her, she understood and although this boy annoyed the buttons off her at times, he had also saved her more times then she would dare admit. If he wanted to play a few videos games after midnight, she didn't mind. "I warn you though, I'm a champ at this."

Chat Noir ended up leaving Marinettes' home after 3 am. They had played round after round after round and even Marinette had to admit that Chat Noir gave her a run for her Takken title. A few times she had dozed off while playing, exhaustion finally getting the best of her. Being unable to leave her like that, Chat gently picked her up and, chat knew she didn't mean to, she nuzzled his chest while in his arms. He put her on her bed and threw a fleecy blanket over her. Her eyes fluttered momentarily

"Thank you, Chat Noir." She murmured, dreamily falling back to sleep.

Chat sat there a few more minuteS, on the edge of her bed. Was it possible for her TO smile even in her sleep? But her smile caused him to smile too.

"No Marinette, thank you." he whispered before he left through the window. Still smiling, he ran through the night.

 **And that's chapter 2! I really hope you enjoyed the chapter and feel free to leave a review. Hopefully the story's pace will speed up soon but thanks so much for reading!- Luna Pendragon**


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